Monday, March 30, 2009

The Original Sewing and Quilt Expo

The Original Sewing and Quilt Expo was in Cleveland this past weekend. I usually try to at least stop in every year. I've never taken any classes, but there are usually lots of good ones offered. And there are always lots of good vendors, usually with good show pricing.

Last year and this year, Beth and I volunteered to take down the displays on Saturday after the show was over. It's pretty easy work and we get to touch the stuff. :) This year there was an exhibit of clothing and quilts made with men's ties. There was a skirt made entirely of ties, along with several items that had ties or bits of ties as accents. It was interesting. We also took down the Hoffman Challenge doll and clothing collection. I was impressed and awed that these people would put so much time, effort and talent into something that would be out of their possession for the better part of a year. I didn't take any pictures of the displays, since we weren't allowed. I did pictures of the goodies I bought, though.

I bought a baby blanket kit:

That's the pattern and some Jeanne cotton/acrylic yarn for the edging and 4 balls of Tofutsies sock yarn which is a blend of wool, soy silk (made from tofu manufacturing waste), cotton, and chitin (made from shrimp and crab shells). No, it doesn't smell fishy - I checked. It mostly smells like the vinyl project it came in. :-P The kit was kind of pricey, so if I make this as a baby blanket, it would have to be for a baby I really like. I'm thinking maybe I'll get some cheaper sock yarn to substitute in the blanket and use the Tofutsies for socks. Is that wrong of me? The Deborah Norville Serenity sock yarn is really soft and only $7 for 100g (2 balls) vs $16 for a 100g ball for the Tofutsies. That would take the price of the yarn for the blanket from $78 down to $42. That's more my speed for an item that's going to get barfed on, or worse.

It seems to be all socks, all the time for me lately, since I also bought some Noro Kureyon sock yarn (color #S102).

I love the Noro colors, but wasn't sure about this sock yarn, because it's not very soft. I talked to one of the ladies in the booth, and she said it wasn't the best yarn to knit, but it's her favorite pair of socks. Apparently it does soften up when you wear/wash it. I might have to use that yarn for a two-at-a-time pair. I didn't have a problem with second sock syndrome on my first pair, but I have a feeling I might if I don't like the yarn.

Finally, I bought a bracelet kit.

Yeah, I made that! I think it was offered as a class, and I was tempted to sign up for it, since volunteers get a free class. But I'm lazy, so I didn't. Then I happened to be walking by the booth where they were selling the beads, and they were doing make-and-take projects. I didn't have much time, so I picked out my beads and got about an inch and half of it started, then finished it when I got home, before I forgot how to do it. It was actually really easy as long as you didn't get the thread tangled. It cost $35, which was the supply fee for the class, and I got to learn it without "paying" for the class itself. Pretty cool, huh? And I have enough beads leftover to try to make matching earrings.

Notice it was the Sewing and Quilt Expo, and I bought beads and yarn. :)

Saturday was a milestone birthday for John's mom, so we had dinner at her house on Sunday. With the expo and visiting with the "in-laws", I didn't get a lot of knitting done over the weekend. I did manage to make enough progress on the 2-at-a-time socks that I've decided not to frog them.

I also got a bit farther on my toe-up sock.

I figure I have about about an inch or two to go till I start the guesset increases.

Finally, this is a very cute, but very naughty boy:

Blue has been sick off and on for over a week. Sometimes he was keeping his meals, sometimes he was giving them back to us. We took him to the vet last Tuesday and they did x-rays and blood work and ruled out a whole bunch of stuff. They didn't see anything on the x-rays, so they thought it might be a food allergy. We started switching him over to some special food (green pea and duck), but he was still getting sick and then he seemed to lose his appetite. Back he went to the vet this morning. This time they saw something cigar-shaped, about the thickness of a pencil, and about 1 or 1-1/2" long, possibly with some yarn or string wrapped around it. We have no idea what it is, but we'll find out tomorrow, when they do surgery to take it out. I'm sure he's scared, since he doesn't really like strangers and the vet's office smells funny and has lots of strange noises. I'm hoping he'll get to come home tomorrow, but it depends on how quickly he comes out of the anesthesia.

Think good thoughts for my baby Blue. I hope this experience makes him think twice before he eats something that isn't food, but I'm not counting on it. I've had cats for 3/4 of my life, and I've never had one eat something that had to be surgically removed.....